The Perfect Stranger
by M.L. Groves
Summary: Otherwise known as the not so perfect meeting. In which Lucy tries to convince Levy she's not staring at the pink-haired boy across the way and fails to convince herself. AU NaLu. Sequel Coming Soon!


**SPECIAL NOTE: ** Some of you reading this now have read and are currently following the Perfect Stranger. I wanted to apologize for any confusion as this is a re-post of the original one-shot. It was originally part of my one-shot collection and I decided to separate all short stories into separate one-shots. Sorry again for the re-post and the confusion!

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The Perfect Stranger

'_Otherwise known as the Not So Perfect Meeting'_

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The contents herein are by no means owned by this poor, starving writer and completely belong to those who have created the greatness that is _Fairy Tail._

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Lucy wasn't staring. She really wasn't. In fact, she was positive that her sidelong glances towards the entrance gate were far more curious in nature and more subtle than staring. If anyone were to ask her what she was staring at, she could deny the claim without a shred of guilt because as far as she was concerned: she really wasn't.

Well, perhaps distracted fit the bill more, but who could blame her? Just ahead, at the entrance gate and surrounded by an obnoxiously loud group was messy hair the color of her favorite shade: pink. There was a guy with pink hair just twenty feet away from her, how could she not stare at that? Very easily, because she wasn't staring. She was working after all and staring could get her into trouble. In fact, it was also rude. Lucy adamantly convinced herself that the constant movement of her eyes in the general direction couldn't be staring. Her booth was situated straight in front of the gates; it wasn't as if she was purposefully looking in that way, she was already facing it!

Levy didn't believe her for a second and Lucy didn't fault her for that, but really, she repeated in her mind, she was not staring.

"You're totally staring." Her best friend and current co-volunteer muttered in amusement from her side of the table. Lucy glanced at her for a mere moment to frown before she stubbornly grunted her denial.

"Am not," if she had stamped her foot and pouted, she would have perfectly resembled a child who was denying the fact they were trying to sneak a snack out of the kitchen. The description fit well, as her current snack was sporting pink hair and smiling widely as he finally walked through the gates with the rest of his friends and began excitedly running to the nearest hot dog stand. Lucy briefly wished she had been assigned a food stand now instead of a crummy reservation table.

"Okay, Lucy, if you say so." Levy giggled lightly in amusement and went back to counting her raffle tickets she'd just received. "However, I don't believe you, just remember that."

Her response was a noncommittal shrug as an older couple came up to inquire about the prices for a reserved seat. Smiling her brightest smile, she pulled out her seating chart and glanced at the list.

"If you want the front row chairs, we have ten left." She said sweetly and motioned to the black box that sat in front of her. "It's only five dollars per seat if you want one!"

The older man's smile was crinkly but heart-warming as he fished out the cash from his wallet. "That's not too bad. Goodness, I could pay for most of the food here with how cheap everything is! The missus here couldn't even believe it when we heard the whole production could be watched for free!" She accepted the ten from him gracefully and locked it in the box.

"All proceeds from the raffle and our vendors here fund the Shakespeare Festival, sir." Lucy said with a wink. "I hope you two enjoy the show!"

The two thanked her profusely after receiving ticket stubs for their seating and walked down the path that would take them to their reserved area. Lucy turned to speak to Levy after that, but quickly stopped herself when she realized her friend had suddenly been surrounded by a large family, buying a raffle ticket each. She decided it best not to interrupt and went back to people watching.

It was rather relaxing, despite the fact her bottom was sore from the uncomfortable chair and the mosquitos were still trying to bite her. She mentally wished she had brought more bug-spray, but it was a small price to pay to volunteer at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Each year the festival was held every weekend during the months of June and July and a different play by Shakespeare was acted out in front of an audience for free. It was a relaxing time inside of a green, well-kept park in the better part of downtown Kansas City. The trees gave perfect amount of shade and the big stone wall that circled the perimeter gave the place an ambience of seclusion. It was truly a nice night.

Lucy had been volunteering in the stands for the festival for almost four years now. As the daughter of the founder for one of the biggest cell phone companies in the country, she served as the perfect sponsor to be set out in front of the gates. Many employees from the company volunteered here each year. It was one of the biggest sponsors for the festival in the city. The perks weren't so bad either. She got to meet new people, invite a friend or two, and get free front row seats for volunteering to watch a play written by one of her favorite play-writes and acted by talented people. Although, she thought with a slight grimace, getting a reserved front row seat wasn't all it was cracked up to be when her backside was already sore from sitting on the plastic chairs. She had another hour to go before the play would start and the sun had only started to set.

It was the fourth week of the play this year and Lucy had already seen a few plays she hadn't seen in the past years she had been there. Macbeth was playing tonight and she was already anxious for it to start. Levy too, who had begun volunteering with her this year for the first time was just as excited, for more reasons than just her love of books. Lucy glanced back at her bookworm of a friend and held in a grin.

Levy, who had just finished helping the family with their raffle tickets, was glancing towards the large stage set behind them, obviously trying to spot someone through the messy locks of her blue hair. Lucy grinned devilishly at her roommate and propped herself on her chin.

"You call me out for staring while you're obviously looking for a certain stage-hand? That's the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?"

She was thoroughly amused when her somewhat timid friend said uncharacteristically, "S-shut up, Lucy, I'm not looking for anyone! I just wanted to see the stage!"

"Levy, it looks the same as it did last week and the week before that, what could you possibly find new about it?"

"Lucy! Shut up! What if he hears you?"

Her grin was mischievous. "Ah-hah, so you ARE looking for him." She covered her mouth to hide her giggles as the color drained from her friend's face before it returned fast enough to turn her ears red.

"I, I didn't mean that!" She quickly covered her burning cheeks with her hands.

Lucy just couldn't help it at that point. Levy was too easy of a target. As she opened her mouth to speak again, words that would probably make her roommate steam out her ears, she quickly froze instead when someone tapped her shoulder followed by a loud cough to gain her attention. For a split second, her heart almost beat from her chest in surprise before she whipped her head around to see who she'd been accidentally ignoring, "I'm so sorry si-."

She never finished her sentence when her eyes met upon onyx and pink hair. The wide-teethed grin she'd seen at the gate earlier was now directly in front of her and Lucy found her tongue suddenly tied together. He was better looking close-up she realized numbly, despite the odd hair.

Too late, Lucy realized, that she never finished her sentence, but he was smirking now and all she managed was a slow blink before he grabbed the sign on her table and glanced at it. "So, the signed seats are only five dollars?" He looked at her for answer and the playful lilt in his voice sent her mind jarring back into her body where her jaw finally decided to work.

"Yes, the _reserved_ seats are only five dollars." She confirmed, subtly correcting him at the same time. He roughly placed the sign back down, ignoring it when it tipped over and shrugged his shoulders, not really noticing the correction in her words.

"Sweet, maybe I'll get some." He turned to leave, giving Lucy a great view of his broad shoulders before he tilted his head back to grin at her. "See ya'." He ran off quickly then, before she could even utter a return farewell and Lucy watched him meet up with his group of friends once more, talking excitedly and with a jump to his step. Her eyes trained on him as he grabbed a bundle of food from one of the girls and promptly began gorging himself on it.

If Lucy had been in her right mind, she would have turned her nose up at the messy way he ate. Even from this distance she could tell a lot of food had gone everywhere but his mouth, but at the moment, she couldn't bring herself to care. Her mind was still muddled by dark eyes, a broad back, and ridiculously pink hair. A brief corner of her mind wondered blankly why he even bothered to ask about the prices when the very sign he'd been looking at revealed it in gigantic block letters, but even that wasn't sifting through her mind fast enough to be understood.

Levy's amused voice brought her back rather quickly though, "I bet my raffle ticket that you're currently wondering if the carpet matches the drapes," she said with an evil glint in her eye.

It was her turn to blush brightly as she gaped in shock. "Levy McGarden, I can't believe you even said that!"

"But I'm right, aren't I?"

"Shut up!"

"Hah! I am!"

Lucy whined in despair and promptly covered her now red face in her arms. Levy only giggled: revenge mission accomplished.

_"But who did bid thee join with us?"_

_ "Macbeth."_

_ "He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers our offices and what we have to do to the direction just."_

It was the beginning of act three and Lucy had to admit it now: she really was staring. There was just something… cute about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was completely distracting her from the play. Thankfully, she had seen it many times before, so she was still able to keep up with it to some degree. As three murderers prepared to kill Macbeth's ally, Banquo, she had her eyes trained on the group of friends sitting on the rock wall surrounding the outer perimeter. He was in the midst of them, leaning back and forth with his arms behind his head, looking bored. She couldn't blame him, Shakespeare wasn't for everyone, but it did bring up the question: Why did he come in the first place?

He hadn't returned to register a seat with her or his friends after he had visited her table. A part of Lucy had been disappointed, but soon after, more visitors had finally entered the park and were more than happy to distract her. The seats had all, but sold out and she kindly left her volunteer seat open for someone else. Levy had stayed behind, to keep her seat and to possibly catch a glimpse of the rough looking stage-hand that she'd been trying to speak with ever since their first week volunteering that year. That was all right with Lucy. With her roommate gone, she was free to do as she wished and didn't have to worry about being teased while she did it.

So naturally, she chose to sit on the rock wall as well, not close enough to seem creepy, but still close enough to get a look at her current eye-candy and his loud group of friends. They seemed to try to be respectful, they really did, but on and off one would mutter something and another would cry out in indignation, the one she kept eyeing seemed to have an uncanny ability to pick a fight with just about all of them, especially the male sitting next to him, who constantly kept unbuttoning his shirt. She was almost surprised he hadn't taken it off yet.

Once they got too loud and too many stares were redirected from the stage and back to them, a terrifying redhead woman would utter something and they'd promptly fall silent, eyes trained on the play. It was interesting to watch and Lucy slightly wished she could hear what was going on. She had been to an all-girls school all her life, and she hadn't met anyone except for Levy since she had started College. It was rare for her to find friends that were more than willing to act up and enjoy each other's company like this. In a way, she was somewhat jealous.

That smile the boy kept giving when something hilarious was said amongst them was also too nice to pass up. Lucy briefly wished she had asked him his name.

Banquo and his son stepped onstage, unaware of the betrayal they were about to face at the hands of assassins and Lucy had to fight to put her attention back to the play. The general glanced to the sky and said, _"It will be rain tonight."_

With that, the murderers struck! _"Let it come down!"_ They cried and the fight began. This had always been Lucy's least favorite part in the play. The betrayal of an ally must be something akin to losing a friend and she truly felt for the man's son, who dodged to the side and was ordered to flee by his own father just as the killers overpowered him.

With his last breath, the man cried out, _"O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance! Fly, fly fly! Thou mayst revenge! O slave!"_

She watched as he fell to the ground, dead and his son escaped into the night. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her current topic of the night suddenly very interested in the scene. His eyes were dancing in the light as his grin grew lopsided, clearly excited by the battle. For a moment, Lucy thought she heard him grumble, "Aw! Don't run! Avenge your old man already!" She bit her lip to hold back a grin.

"Shh! That would be three against one, there's no way that could work!" One of the girls in the group, with very pretty, short white hair, Lucy noticed, grabbed his arm and shook him with an exasperated smile and she felt her heart twinge a little. There was affection between those two in that brief exchange, she even saw it in the pouting grin he shot her and Lucy was surprised by the immense feeling of disappointment that hit her.

Of course a cute guy like that would already have a girlfriend, she thought bitterly and forced herself to watch the rest of the act. She needed to stop staring anyway, it wasn't as if she was really going to speak with him and befriend the group and she was beginning to feel like a creeper. Sighing, she kept her eyes on the stage and waited for intermission to start. She never noticed the boy slide his eyes down the rock wall to land on her and narrow in thought.

The act continued and Lucy found herself amazed once more by the great acting and brilliant costume designs. The sun had finally set and the spotlights were the only thing that illuminated the park. With night falling, the heat was far more bearable as lightning bugs began to shine in random places. She had almost fully immersed herself in the play finally when she caught site of a full mane of black hair sit in her empty volunteer seat, right next to a very stiff and suddenly red Levy. She couldn't hold back her grin. Apparently, the stage-hand saw fit to go to her first.

Perfect teasing fodder, Lucy decided to save it for later, where she could put it good use. A banquet was now being held onstage and Macbeth was making a fool of himself as if he were raving frantically to nothing, when in actuality, the ghost of his betrayed ally had appeared. The Lady Macbeth tried to ease the others at banquet despite her husband's actions and Lucy, despite her tries to sink into the story, found herself looking back to the group again. She just couldn't help it! The girl was no longer holding his arm and they were back to their usual antics of teasing and jabbing each other with the rest of the group, only to be silenced by the redhead again.

Lucy couldn't help but grin at them. They were truly lively, that girl truly had them all under her thumb, not that she could blame them. Just from watching from her seat, she could tell the girl in question was scary.

Just as the third act was about to wrap up, a light drizzle had started, covering the park in a cool mist and fog. It was perfect for the atmosphere of this dark tragedy despite the discomfort it caused when making Lucy's shorts wet. A light sheen of water covered the rock wall, the seats untaken and many of the audience's blankets they sat upon. It caused many smaller lights to glow and reflect from the spotlights. It was a gorgeous sight.

The spotlights suddenly lit up the park brightly and the lights on stage dimmed. It blinded Lucy for a moment and she rubbed her eyes. The third act had ended and intermission was about to start, speakers around the park blared suddenly for all volunteers to make it back to their posts as many play watchers stood and stretched from their positions. Lucy stole a glance to the rambunctious group once more and saw they were now talking as loud as they had been right before the play started, but were making no move to leave their position. Turning away, Lucy braced herself and prepared to slide off the wall.

She had done this many times, even in high school from high bleachers. Jumping from seven feet up was no big deal really, but she misjudged the slick surface of the rocks now that it had been misted over and let out a surprised squeak when her leg slipped out from under her. She pushed off at the same time, felt the wind rush through her hair and let out a very ungraceful grunt of pain when she landed in the wet dirt, leg twisted painfully and face full of grass.

With a whine, Lucy struggled to push herself up and stared at the groups of others walking by. With face flaming, she quickly brushed her face off and glanced around wildly. Had anyone seen that? How could this have happened? Where was Levy? Her wild glances proved futile as her roommate was nowhere in sight and the quick echoes or laughter from those walking by entered her ears. A few girls walked by, laughing outright and pointed at her and she felt her ears burn.

"No, no, no, no! This can't be happening!" She muttered under her breath and chanced a look back towards the rock wall as she tried to move her legs under her. She was having trouble getting them to listen. Her entire world froze in horror though when she saw the group of friends already on the ground and heading straight towards her, the loudest of laughter coming from them. "Oh crap!" With tears stinging her eyes, she let her blonde hair cover her face and tried to stand with as much dignity as possible.

Yes, she fell and her leg hurt. She wasn't about to let _them_ know it. Let them laugh, she didn't care. She had work to do.

Her right leg trembled and gave out and she cried out when she met the ground again. Oh who was she kidding? This was so embarrassing! With a sniffle, she tried to make her leg work once more and refused to look up to anyone who might be laughing at her. It was loud and all around her and she was certain her shirt and shorts were now stained.

Just as she was about to get her traitorous leg under her once more, she blinked in confusion at the sudden hand that appeared in front of her. The palms were dry and calloused, but strangely looked comforting. She found herself blinking dumbly at it for a few seconds before common sense told her that a hand had to belong to somebody. With a jolt, she swung her head upwards and felt her embarrassment complete.

With concerned eyes, but a highly amused smirk, her pink-haired candy of the night stood before her as he held back a snicker. "Are you alright?" The laughter was in his voice, she could hear it. Shamed, she looked down and tried to stand; ignoring the hand proffered to her, but was surprised when he struck her nose with it, regaining her attention. "Oi, I asked you if you are alright. A weirdo like you shouldn't be falling off something like that."

The comment struck her and she let out a breath of irritated air. Weirdo? He called her a weirdo? Well, this night was just getting better, wasn't it? "I'm fine." She simmered out, and forced herself up, despite him still holding his hand out to her. It looked like he could have pulled her up with ease, but her pride was struck and letting him help her while laughing would have just made it worse. She had almost regained her full stance when her leg gave out once more and down she went again.

Traitorous leg! She seethed. With a sigh of defeat, she looked to him once more, with his head tilted and eyes narrowed, as if silently ordering her to stop being stubborn. The once amused face was now lock-jawed as he stared at her seriously. With a slight whimper, she relented, placing her much smaller hand in his. It immediately engulfed hers with strong curled fingers as he quickly pulled her up and snaked an arm around her waist before she could put weight on her injured leg.

"That wasn't so hard was it," He said, suddenly amused again. "Gee, you really are weird. What kinda person just ignores help when they're offered it?"

If she had known him, she would have buried her face into his shoulder in embarrassment; instead, she let her hair cover her face more, still utterly shamed. "Thank you…" she muttered quietly, positive that even her arms were glowing red. If she hadn't been so mortified, she would have realized that she really liked the smell that was coming off of the scarf he wore around his neck. Pink hair and a scarf in the middle of summer, yet he called her weird? She couldn't put her head around it.

"You're still working at that assigned seating thing right? I'll get ya' over there." He didn't sound amused anymore and she chanced a glance at him. His eyes were dead set ahead, almost daring the others walking by them to continue laughing. She hadn't even noticed when the laughter had stopped, but he was clearly not having any of it. Finally, Lucy allowed herself a chance to relax and let him escort her to her table.

Levy was already at the stand by the time they hobbled to it and she was surrounded by customers, asking for more raffles before the end of the night. She worked tirelessly and didn't even spare Lucy a glance when she was sat into her chair. However, Lucy did notice that her cheeks were flushed still, and she had a feeling that it had nothing to do with how busy it suddenly was.

Warm fingers grasped her leg and she squeaked again, jumping in surprise when she realized her eye-candy now turned good Samaritan was examining her leg that was dirt stained and red. His thumb rubbed away most of the dirt and he knelt so far down that his nose nearly touched her knee-cap. She reddened again.

"Y-You really don't have to do that." She stammered out, starting to feel ashamed again. He spared her a glance and grinned.

"So? You hurt yourself. Looks like you twisted it up pretty good, but if you don't go running or anything, it should be okay in a little bit. I wonder if it needs ice or something…"

"Th-that's not…."

He frowned. "Fine. Have it your way," The indifferent tone that surfaced was a slap to her face. She was surprised to find that she suddenly felt guilty.

"I'm sorry; it's just, I don't even know you…" She managed to explain.

"I'm Natsu." He interrupted quickly as he continued looking over her leg. "And you're Loony or Luigi or whatever your nametag said, I forget. There, now you know me." Before she could think of a reply to this statement, Lucy let out a loud gasp of pain when he suddenly gripped her leg tightly and twisted it, her knee popped and what felt like an electric shock jammed up her spine.

"St-stop that!" She shouted and automatically slapped the top of his head as tears sprang into her eyes. "That HURT! And my name isn't Loony!"

Despite the grunt of pain that escaped him from her attack, he looked up at her with a grin. "Luigi then?"

"No!" She glared and tried to move her leg away, his grip tightened and she let loose an aggravated whine. "That really hurt. Thanks for the help, but I need to get to work, so you can go away now!"

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice!" He retorted, sounding insulted. "Your knee felt out of place a little, I only popped it back!" Lucy blinked and stared at him. She knew her knee had hurt, but had she really hurt it that badly? Taking her silence as his queue to stay he placed her leg back down and flashed a brilliant smile, all full of teeth. She would have been stuck staring again if it weren't for the prickling tears still in her eyes and the sniffle that overtook her nose. "Oh, it musta really hurt. Give me a moment."

Once again, before Lucy could say anything, he was turning around, looking for someone with a well-trained eye. She took the moment to run her eyes over his shoulders again before glancing back towards Levy, who was still overrun by customers. Something in the way her head was tilted told her that her roommate was listening very attentively to the entire conversation she was having with this stranger. With an exasperated sigh, Lucy mentally prepared herself for a night full of mockery.

"Oi! Gray! Ask that guy for some ice!" She was brought back from her musings by him yelling, quite loudly, across the clearing towards the hot dog stand. Following his gaze, she noticed one of his friends standing casually over there, guzzling out of a water bottle and looking mildly annoyed. For a brief moment, she realized it was the boy she had seen this one arguing with during the play.

"Why should I?" He shouted back, drinking more of his bottle without much of a second thought towards them.

"Don't ask stupid questions and just do it!" He shouted back and Lucy winced. Did he have to be so loud. "Gah, I swear I'm going to knock his head into the dirt." He muttered under his breath before walking over there, not even glancing back at her. Lucy blinked. Was that it, all that talk and getting into her personal space and he just walks off like that?

She didn't hear them after that, only saw as they argued for a few moments and that the water bottle his friend had been drinking from suddenly fell to the ground, spilling its contents over the earth. For a moment, she thought punches were about to be thrown, but to her amazement, Natsu said something that caused the other to tense for a moment, before they both turned to face the vendor. Perplexed, but slightly annoyed at herself for staring again, Lucy spun in her chair and began going through the contents of her collections box. The reserved seats should have been filled in by now, but this was the best time to get a count on her sales before the play started again.

Just as she was getting through a big chunk of dollar bills, she registered a presence next to her just in time to feel the shock of something ice cold touch her neck. With a shriek, she jumped, almost tumbling out of the chair as she did and turned to glare at her assailant-

-Which in turn, appeared to be ice wrapped in a cold rag being held by a boy with pink hair.

"Natsu!" She found herself hissing, "Don't DO that, that's COLD!" She prepared to swipe the offending pack from his hands, but stopped when he began laughing, eyes glinting in merriment and face screwed up in a look of true mischief.

"That was amazing." He crowed in a hoot of laughter. "Man, you're reactions have got to be the best I've ever seen!" She felt her cheeks heat up there, but tried to ignore it. She was not putting up with a throbbing knee just so some random cute guy could tease her. He didn't say anything else, but just as unceremoniously grabbed her knee again. "Gee, I wasn't even gone that long and you're already working. This should help."

She flinched again when he placed the pack to her knee, applying a gentle pressure as he did so. It shot another jolt up her spine, but she glanced down with a look of surprise. Had he really ran off just to bring her that ice pack? He was turning out to be far nicer than she had assumed him to be. She nodded her head and gently swatted his hand away, replacing it with her own so she could hold it easier.

"You know, I could have gotten that eventually." She said with a thankful smile. "You don't have to ignore your friends on my account."

The look he gave her spoke volumes. It was a look that said he knew what he was doing and he'd stubbornly stand by it. "They can wait; they wouldn't ignore someone who fell like you did either, so why should I?" The grin he gave her after that did strange things to her stomach and she decided she wasn't sure if she liked him directing that smile at her or not.

However, he was being sincere, even after she had tried to make him leave and even smacked him upside the head. This boy she had been eying all night turned out to be more than she expected and she almost felt bad that he was going so far for her bum knee when all he had to show for it was her inability to stop focusing on him.

Lucy sighed then, resolute. "Alright, you win, you're too nice of a person to not deserve this."

Not understanding her, as she was certain he wouldn't, his face screwed up in confusion and he tilted his head. It changed his appearance to something that would have resembled a dog and she bit her lip to hold back a giggle. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," She hedged while eyeing one of the volunteers that came walking by with a bag of snacks over his shoulders. "Hey! Do volunteers still get a free bag?" She called out suddenly, ignoring when Natsu stiffed and looked back and forth between the two as if he had missed a step in the dark.

"Of course, anything for you Lucy!" The man replied as he walked passed.

"Great, toss one over then!"

Her hands were outstretched when a nicely tied bag of kettle corn was tossed her way and she caught it with ease. Waving at her fellow volunteer as he walked away to assist some of the visitors, she turned to Natsu, who was now staring at her with wide eyes. Lucy couldn't hold back the laugh or the smile that graced her face as she proudly held the bag out to him.

"It's not much, but I wanted to thank you anyway." She said kindly as she offered the bag of sweet popcorn. It usually cost two dollars to buy a bag and she didn't regret wasting her free one for something like this. The proffered bag hung in the air while Natsu stared dumbly at it. It was quiet between them, except for the crowd around them and the sounds of Levy laughing with her customers. Eventually, his gaze grew as intense as he looked between the bag and to Lucy that she felt her cheeks redden.

"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?" She stammered out and glanced away, "take the bag already before I change my mind!"

"You're giving me this?" He asked voice quieter than she'd heard it the entire night. "Really?" Before she had time to respond, that grin blossomed forth yet again and he took the bag happily, "Wow! This is great! You really are the perfect stranger aren't you?"

She almost dropped the ice pack and stared at him, face unbelievably hot. He took no notice as he quickly ripped the bag open and grabbed himself a handful of the contents inside. Smiling brightly, he placed her hand firmly back on her knee, securing the ice pack and laughed. "Thanks a lot! I better get going now; don't hurt your knee any more than it already is!" He patted her shoulder in farewell and quickly took off into the crowd, obviously excited by his new gift. Lucy was certain he had ran off to see his friends, but this time, her eyes did not follow him.

She was too busy absentmindedly rubbing the ice pack on her knee, to try and soothe the numbness that was taking over her joint and wondered if maybe she should put the cold ice to her forehead instead. She was certain the cubes would melt on contact with her hot skin. That had not gone at all how she had expected. With a slightly disappointed feeling in her stomach – as well as butterflies- she resumed her previous work and didn't even notice when Levy started talking to her with all the excitement a girl could have when ready for gossip.

Lucy wouldn't find her head completely out of the clouds until well after intermission had ended and she had been sat next to Levy in the volunteer chairs, far from the rock wall where she couldn't hurt herself further.

The play had resumed and the stagehand had appeared a few times during the acts to sit on Levy's left hand side. On and off she would notice them spare a glance toward the other or share a whisper before he had left for good with a slip of paper left behind on her roommate's lap. Lucy didn't get to see the contents, she was too distracted to even try to steal it from her friend, but it wasn't hard to guess and she smiled happily for her friend. Levy never noticed, her face was hidden in the bangs of her blue hair and her ears were clearly a beat red.

By the time the fifth act was well underway and Lucy had just witnessed Lady Macbeth's madness on stage, she finally chanced a glance behind her and scanned the crowd. The faint mist that had settled was still sparkling in the grass and lightning bugs were everywhere, but the loud group of friends, along with a certain pink-haired stranger, was nowhere in sight. The rock wall somehow looked empty. She was sad to realize that they must have come in on a whim and never even planned on finishing the show. Disappointed, she forced herself to watch the stage once more and decided she wasn't going to think about it.

It was a one-time, random occurrence that turned out far better than anyone could have expected it to turn out. She wasn't going to let it rule her mind and keep her from enjoying a fantastic play. So Lucy watched the battle that unfolded as Macbeth believed himself to be invincible. She watched as he was stabbed, believing that no man born of a woman could kill him. She watched as his face fell in shock and horror as he realized his assailant, Macduff had no mother and watched as he fell to the ground dead, signifying the near end of the play and the end of his insane tyranny.

As the play ended and the crowd applauded, many had already packed their blankets and had left. Like most of the volunteers, Lucy held back, waiting for the paths to clear and together with Levy, they both walked back to their tables to help with the cleanup. The night was good, the play great and now both girls were tired and ready for a good night of sleep. It took them a little longer to reach their work stations, thanks to Lucy's hobbling, but the ice she had earlier had done herself some good and she found that her limping wasn't nearly so bad as it could have been.

"I don't think I can ever get tired of that play." Levy said to her as they walked to the tables. Her mind was a whirl and her eyes were lit up in excitement, Lucy was sure that her own eyes matched Levy's and she agreed.

"Hopefully next week will have a production just as good," Lucy replied, huffing a little as they came across a slight incline. Levy grunted in response and helped her along. "Sorry about this, Levy, I must be a bother."

"Nonsense! I'm just happy you didn't do worse!" Levy shot back, glaring at her, there was something on the edge of her tongue, that made Lucy's back tense, but her roommate changed her mind before saying it and instead asked, "Do you know what they're showing next week?"

"Errm, Taming of the Shrew, I think? I might have to check the program when we get home."

"Oh, I LOVE that one!"

"Yeah, me too."

They fell into companionable silence after that, and waved to their fellow volunteers as they all walked by, sleepily fixing up their own stalls. They would be there to do it again next Friday and for the rest of the weekend and it always left everyone exhausted as soon as it was over even if they were allowed to sit in on the play. Many car horns honked in the distance as the area cleared out and by the time the two girls had made it to their table, most of the items had been removed, except for the money tins they would have to turn in on their own. Lucy could have cried at the sight. Someone had been nice enough to put up their chairs even! Wishing she knew who to thank, she quickly grabbed her locked black box when she was close enough and double checked it for the funds that should have been safely nestled inside.

"Hey, what's that?" Levy's voice caught her attention and she looked back to her curiously. She had a strange look of curiosity on her face.

"What's what?" She had no idea why her roommate was staring at the table as if someone had left a one hundred dollar bill behind. Placing her black tin aside, Lucy followed Levy's stare and stopped before she could say anything else. Stuffed between the two tables, was a slip of paper, slightly waving in the light wind that had picked up. "… could it be a lost raffle ticket?" She wondered out loud.

Levy shook her head and plucked it from its home. "No, the tickets were a baby blue color." Her eyes quickly scanned the paper as Lucy waited, curious to know if someone had left something behind on accident and was surprised when Levy's face broke out into a wide grin and she started giggling uncontrollably.

"What? What is it Levy?" She goaded and tapped her finger on the table. The giggling girl shook her head and laughed some more. Lucy's eye twitched. "Levy, what? Did that stagehand leave something for you?"

Through the giggles, Levy somehow managed a blush and shook her head. "His name's Gajeel and no, this isn't even for me."

"Huh?" Lucy blinked when the paper was held out to her, Levy's grin sinister.

"It's for you."

"Eh?" Mechanically, she took the paper and slowly turned it so the terribly written scrawl faced her. Sure enough, the lines of her name formed on the top of the paper and she quickly scanned the rest of it.

_Hey Lucy, (I think I got it right this time, right?)  
I'll see you next week._

She stared at the paper as if it had sprouted legs and had begun to dance across her fingertips. Surely she had read this wrong, right? Who could have- she stopped her train of thought and shook her head. There was only one person that night who had outright admitted to not remembering her name, but could this have really been written by him? She read it over again and a strange warmth blossomed in her chest as her cheeks flushed. There had to be a joke to this, but where was it? She flipped it back over again and let out a quick breath when she found nothing on the other side just as it had been when Levy had first handed it out to her.

As realization set in, she finally allowed herself to smile as she looked to Levy, who wore a matching grin. Suddenly, she really couldn't wait until the next weekend.

* * *

**This one-shot is loosely based off of a real event that took place. The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in Kansas City is a real festival that I have volunteered at four times and felt it would make a fun setting for a story- and that's how this little tidbit was born.**

**A sequel to "The Perfect Stranger" will be coming soon! Look forward to it!**

**-M.L. Groves**


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